Garment press



May 27, 1930.

E. D. ANDERSON GARMENT PRESS Filed Jan. 12. 1928 www@ 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. f/F/vssr' b. ANDERSON ATTORNEYS.

May 27, 1930- E. D. ANDERSON 1,760,1579

GARMENT f PRES S l Filed Jan. 12, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ERNEST D. AN1 Ewsa/v INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

j Patented May 217.1930 i UNITED, STATES PATENTl oFFlcE ERNEST D.ANDERSON, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T`O TROY LAUNDRY MA- CHINERYCOMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OFDELAWARE GARMENTPRESS Application led January 12, 1928.

This invention relates to pressing machines and relates moreparticularly to high power machines adapted for garment press1ng,laundry ironing and work of similar character.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved high power pressingmachine `designed to close upon the work rapidly underA light pressureand then to subject the work to heavy pressure. i

,Another object is the provision of a pressing machine operated by fluidpressure, wherein two cylinders are used, one of the cylinders beingsmall and servinginitially to V, Some of these presses have utilized asinglel cylinder for producingthe result and others have used twocylinders, the function of one.v

closethe pressing members and the other cylinder being large and serving to subject material in the press to a final heavy pressure.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a fluid operatedpress adapted, through the use of two cylinders of different slize, tooperatawith a minimumv volume o f Another object of the invention is theprovision of a safety device which permits a press to -be closed only bythe use of two hands.

An additional object ofthe invention is the provision of animproved formof valve struc- `ture` for use with fluid operated'presses.

i Presses -of the type adapted quickly to close upon t-he work and thento subject thework to heavy'pressureare well known in the art. However,tliese: resses have inherent disadvantages, one o the major of which isthev requirement of a relatively large amount of power. Presses havebeen made which utihze fluid under pressure as a power medium.

of which was initially to close the press andl the function of the otherto give the material in the press a final heavy squeeze. While many ofthese machines have provedsatisfactory in certain casesthey have had thedisadvantage that a relatively large volume of fluid under pressure wasrequired for their operation.

According to my invention I provide a press utilizing two cylinders,within one of which moves a piston of small diameter and Vwithin theother ofswhich moves-a piston of Serial No. 246,228.

very large diameter. The function of the smaller of the'se, whichutilizes but a small volume of fluid, is'initially to close-fthe pressand the function of the larger, which moves relatively to its piston buta small distance and which requires but a small volume of fluid,4 is togive the jaws of the press a final heavy squeeze. In carrying outmyinvention lI provide locking means which hold the small piston in itsextended position after the same has been forced to such position byfluid pressure as an incident of the closing of the press,

said locking means serving to actu-ate a valve for admitting fluid underpressure to the larger of said lcylinders which then gives the jaws oft-he press a final heavy squeeze.

In order to insure automatic opening of the press lat the desired momentI provide a trippin mechanism acting responsive to release of t. efluid-pressure in the large cylinder, to release the above mentionedlocking means and permit the jawsof the press to be opened f under theaction of a spring. For controlling the admission of fluid to thecylinders of the press I provide a valve mechanism operable .by a systemof levers, so interconnected 'that it is necessary for the operator ofthe press tov use both hands in order to open the said valve.` y

The `above mentioned and other objects and vadvantages of the inventionand the manner of attaining them will be made clear in the followingdescription of a particular embodiment4 of my invention, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.. Y Referring tothe drawings,Fig. 1 illustrates in elevation a laundry press constructed inaccordance'with my invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates par'tly in Jv ertical section l th'e power meansofthe press shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views of thevalve shown attached to the pressin Fig. 1. j

Fig. 5 is a front view.of a portion of the press closing mechanism shownin Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a front view'of the press showing .the two hand control forcontrolling the closing\of the jaws of the press.

Fig, 7 is a viewof the press shown in Fig. 1 in open position. j

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 indicates a frame member of a pressconstructed in accordance with myinvention, this frame member comprisingtable portion 2 and upright arm 3. Mounted on the table 2 is a buck 4and pivotally attached to the arm 3 is a lever arm 5, to one end ofwhich is secured a presser head 6. Pivotally secured to the other end oflever arm 5 by means of .a pin 7 is a cylinder 8. Slidably mountedwithin the cylinder 8 is a piston 9 to which is attached a piston rod10. The piston rod 10 Apasses through a guide 11 secured to the bottomof the cylinder 8, which holds vthe piston in alignment. ,The piston 9is of an ordinary type and has a leather packing 91 which prevents airfrom passing around the piston. Placed inside of this packing 91 inorder to take up space andthereby reduce the volume of fluid used, is afiller 92. The piston rod 10 extends downwardly and is secured to a`piston 87 which operates within a small cylinder 12, attached to acylinder head 13 pivotally connected by threaded to the cylinder 12.Extending between thetwo blocks 15 and 17 andpivotally connected theretoby pins 19 and 20 respectively, is a toggle arrangement 21. rlhis togglearrangement consists of two pairs of levers 22 and 23 pivot-allyinterconnected by means of pins 24.` The ins -19 and 20 pass throughapertures 25 and 26 slightly larger than the pins and the ends of thelevers .22 and 23 are roundedat 27` and 28.- These rounded portions ofthe levers rest against 'blocks as shown at 29 and 30 which blocks areslightly rounded in order to provide a bearing surface for the roundedends of the levers. The reason for this construction will l be explainedmore fully hereinafter.

Mounted on a bracket' 31 attached to the block 17, is a valve 32.- Thisvalve is opererated by angular movement of a shaft 33, to which isattached a lever 34. Lever 34 is pivotally secured Ito the shaft 33-by apin 35 in such manner that-the lever can be rocked in` Aa directionparallel to the 'axis of the shaft 33.

This lever is held in position at right angles to the shaft 33-by meansof a spring36 and tends to be rotated `in a right-handed direction asviewed in` Fig. 2 by a tension sprlng- 37. Attached to one of the levers22 is an arm 38 which serves when the 'toggle is in the position showninfull lines in Fig. 2, correspondingto closed position of thepress, tostrike against the end of the lever 34 and .maintain the valve 32 in anopen position, as A c will be explained more fully hereinafter. At| pomt68 of lever 59 w1ll strike agamst protached to the valve 32 are twopipes 39 and 40 which extend' respectively to thecylinder 8 and an aircompressor, or other source of fluid under pressure 41. Secured to eachof the levers 22 is an arm 42 to which is attached an inclined member orcam face 43 and a thrust block 44. The block 44 is provided at its topside with a depression 45. Cooperating with the arms 42 in a mannerto'be later explained in detail is a pivotally-mounted rod 46 which isattached to abracket 47 secured to the cylinder 8 by meansof a pin 48.The rod 46 is held in a neutral or center position by means of twotension springs 49 and 50 which are .4

attached to the bracket 47 and to the rod 46. Passing through the lowerend of the rod 46 and keyed thereto is a second rod 51 which is providedat each end with a flattened portion 52, which flattened portions, incertain positions of the rod, engage with the inclined members 43 andthe blocks44 of arms 42.

Secured to the lever arm 5 and to the frame Y of the piston I9 in thedownward direction a vent 55 is provided in the guide 11. This isnecessary because the guide is made in such manner as entirely to closethe'end of the cylinder 8 so as tokeep out dust or foreign matxter. Forthe admission of fluid to the cylinder 12 a pair of tubes 56 and 57 areprovided. Tube 56 leads from the air compresser 41 to a valve 58 mountedon the front side of the' table 2 and tube 57 leadsfrom this valve tothe cylinder 12. .For the operation of valve 58 to control admission offluid to cylinder 12 v is provided a pair of levers 59 and 60. Lever 59is pivotallysecured at 61 to arm 62 which is connected to theoscillating. shaft 63 of the valve 58 (Fig. 6).' Lever 60 is pivotally'mounted-at64 and has secured thereto a rojection 65. The valve 57 iscontrolledp by rocking thearm 62, this rocking being a'ccomplished bylifting the ends of both levers 59 and 60. The lengths of these leversand their ivot pointsare relatively 'soarranged that tile lifting of oneofthe levers alone will not operate the valve, that is'to say, if thele- `Y` ver 59 alone is lifted it will pivot around point 61 until theright-hand end of the lever strikes against the stop 66, without movinglthe arm 62 at all. In the same manner if 1e'- 'ver 59 is left alone andlever 60 lifted this lever `will pivot around 64 and strike against thestop 67 before the projection 65 strikes against point 68 of lever 59,hence no movement of the arm 62 will result. i However, if

both levers are lifted simultaneously theA jection 65 of lever 60 sothat the lever 59 will pivot around projection 65, thus causing the ofshaft 69 is a finger member 81 which has a their seats and hence no Huidcan flow into f arm 62 to be rocked and the valve operated.

While valves 32 and 58 may be of any well vknown type, I prefer toutilize the special form of valve which for its operation requires butslight movement of its controlling member.

Referring more'particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, the form of valve which Iuse comprises a housing 68 having screw-threaded in one side thereof abearing member 70 in which is journalled a shaft 69. This shaft 69hasattached to its free end the lever 34 which is secured to the shaftin a pivotal manner by the pin 35 in a manner described more fully inthe preceding discussion. Screw-threaded in the housing 68 are two plugs71 and 72 which have threaded in their inner ends valve seats 73 and 74respectively with which cooperate ball valves 75 and 76 respectively.For keeping ball 75 down on the seat 73 a plunger 77 and a spring 78 areprovided. Likewise, for keepnig the ball 76 on its seat 74 a plunger 79and a spring 8O are provided. Secured to the end forked end portion 82which engages ball 75, and a projecting end portion 83 which engages theball 76.. Fluid under pressure is supplied to the valve through an inletpipe 84 and when the valve is open flows out of the valve through anoutlet-pipe 85. e An exhaust pipe for. the valve is rovided at 86.

The operation of t 1e valve is as follows: When -the member 81 is in theposition shown in Fig. 3 both of balls 75 and 7 6- are on inletpipe 84or ont of exhaust pipe 86. However,"when the member 81 is ,rocked in aright-hand direction ball 75 is lifted olf its through exhaust pipe 86.When member 81 is rocked in the opposite direction ball 75 is .retainedon its seat while the ball 76 is lifted from its seat, thus allowingfluid to flow into thevalve through the inlet pine 84 and out ofthevalve through the outlet pipe 85.

It will be understood that mushroom Iori' flat valve members might beused in place of the balls and 76, in which case, if desirable, theseats of the valve members might be proyilied with suitable gaskets ofleatherlor the 1 e. Y f e .The operation of the press is as follows:

Whenit is desired tolclose the ress from its open position, as shown `inig. v7,- the operator @lifts the ends of the two levers 59 and 60,-moreclearly shown in Fig. 6, thus opening the valve 58 to allow compressedair to pass from the -a-ir compressor 41 -tothe small cylinder 12.' Airpasses into the cylinder 12 and acts on the piston 87, causing the sameand the connecting rod 10 to be thrust upward. On the upward movementofthe rod 10 the block 15 strikes against the lower end `of guide 11,thus causing the cylinder 8 and left-hand end of lever 'arm 5 to beraised vertically and the head 6 to be lowered toward' the buck-f4. Thisaction continues until the head is about to touch the buck. Vhen suchposition is reached the toggle arrangement 21 is in straightenedposition so that the levers 22 and 23 are very nearly in a straight linewith each other. As the piston 87l continues to move upwardly the leverarms 22' and 23 fully straighten out rcausing the arm 38 to strikeagainst lever 34 of the valve 32 and rock the same in a lefthandeddirection. This rocking of the lever causes ball 76 to be lifted fromits seat, thusallowing air to pass into the valve from the aircompressor 41 through the inlet 85 and to the cylinder 8 through pipe39. Air entering the cylinder 8 acts on the piston 9. The piston 9-isnow immovable due to the fac-t that the toggle arrangement 21 hasstraightened out to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, hencethecylinder 8 is caused to move 1nA an upward direction, thus rockingthe lever arm 5 and thrusting the presser buck 6 down on-to the buck 4.As the area of the piston 9 is relatively large the pressure exerted onthe head 6 is relatively very. great. It will be noted that the leverarms 22 and 23 are providedat their interconnecting ends with squarebearing faces '88 and 89. These faces cause the levers when-.the toggleis straightcned, to assume a position with their axis on the 'samestraight line so that any pressure applied to the block 15 through t iepiston rod 10 will not cause the levers o swing around the pivot point24. If desired furmaking the toggle arrangements snap slightseat 7 3allowing fluid in the valve to escape l by center,vthat is to say, bymaking the fiices- 88-and 89" slightly at an angle so that the levers 22and 23 will be tilted slightly to the leftof the center line drawnbetween the two blocks 15 and 17. rlhispositioning of the levers willcause the toggle to tend to open in a left-handed direction, whichopening would be prevented by the pin 24.

As thepressure applied to the head 6 1s very great, say in theneighborhoodof 2,000

and throughthis arrangement any pressure Vappliedfto the rod 10 istransmitted through the blocks 29 and 30 to the levers 22 and 23. Inorder to insure that the pins 19 and 20 will not receive any of theheavy pressurethese pins are made slightlysmaller than the holes 25 and26. in the levers within which they fit.

This slight difference in the diameter of the pins and the holes permitsthe rounded ends ofthe levers to thrust against the blocks 29 and 30 andreceive the .full effect of the ap- 5 plied pressure.

4 During the closing movement of the press the arm 42 attached to lever22 is swung around from the position shown in Fig. 7 to I that shown inFigs. 1 and 2. In swinging 10 from one position to the other theinclined members or cam faces 43, attached to the arms 42, engage withthe ends 52 of the rod 51, thus causing the rod to be swung in a yleft-handed direction against the tens1on"of spring 50. As the arm 42continues to swing 1nto position the ends 52 of the rod 51 slipoutwardly and downwardly o ver the ends of the inclined members 43.Finally, after the levers 22 and 23 have assumed the go straightposition shown inFigs. 1 and 2, but

before the cylinder has had a chance to move upwardly under the pressureof the fluid adlmtted thereto by the action of the valve 32,

the ends 52 of the rod 51 engage with the sides of 4blocks 44. Then, assoon as the cylinder 8 moves upwardly under thel fluid pressure appliedthereto the rod 46 snaps backinto neutral position under the influenceof spring 50, positioning end portions 52 over the dean pressions in theblocks 44.

Openingof `the press is accomplished by pulling a chain 90 attached to.lever 34 of v valve. 32 and running over a pulley 91 secured to abracket 92 mounted on the block 17 to the front of the machine, as shownin Fig. 6.

The pulling of the chain 90 causes lever 34 to be rocked longitudinallyof the shaft 69, thus causing the end of the lever to disengage the arm38 and snap into a normal position under l n the action of tensionspring 37. This move# ment of the lever 34 causes the ball 75 to belifted off its seat while the ball 76 is held on its seat, both underthe influence of the spring A and the pressure of the air applied to theinlet pipe. Air in the cylinder 8 now rush'es out through the pipe 39and exhaust 86, permitting the piston 9 to approach the cylinder f 8under the iniuence of tension springs 54.

As the cylinder moves downwardly the rod :n 46 causes the ends 52 of rod51 tosstrike against the blocks 44 attached to arms 42, thus rotatingthe arms around pin 19 as a center and thereby opening the togglemechanism and permitting the'wpiston rod (10 to move downwardly underthe influence of tension springs 53. As piston rod 10 moves downwardlyand the pistonl 87 slides downwardly in the cylinder 12, the lever arm 5A rocks about its pivot point moving the presce cser head '6 away fromthe buck 4. The depressions 45 cooperating with the attened or# tions ofthe rod 52 assure that the ends o the rod will not slip off from theends ofthe blocks 44 as the arms 42 rotate aroun the C5 pin 19, and openthe toggle arrangement 2LA Theinclined member 43 strikes the top side Aof the end portions 52 of the rod 51, thus causing the rod 46 to berotated in alright-handed direction against the -action of the spring 49suiiiciently to permit the inclined portion 43 to clear the ends of therod 51. After this clearance `has been obtained the rod 46 snaps backinto neutralposition under the influence of springv 49 and is ready foranother closing of the press. l v

The valve`58, which may be constructed in the same manner as the valve32, is so arranged that when the lever arms 59 and 60 are in idleposition the pipe 57 is open to the atmosphere through the valve. Thispermits the pistonv 87 to slide into thecylinder 12 freely.

From the preceding description it is apparent that in closing the pressit is necessary merely to raise the levers 59 and 60, which re- 1 quiresthe use of both hands thus protecting the operator from injury due toaccidental lock nut 18, which secure the block 17 in position. -Inadjusting the 'press' to thicker goods the lock nut 18 is loosened, theblock 17 screwed toward the bottom of the cylinder 12, and the lock nuttightened. This adjustment would permit the toggle mechanism to lockbefore any heavy pressure w-as applied to the goods in the press.

It will be seen that a press constructed in accordance with my'invention is extremely easy to operate as no direct manual labor isrequired for the opening or closing of the ress. This constructionrenders it very easy or a person to operate the press during anentire-Working day with ease. A further 'advantage of this press is thatit is necessary .for the operator merelyto hold the control levers ofthe press in operating condition -long enough initially to close thepress, then "to release the levers and/go abot their duties,

while the heavy pressure is applied to the press automatically.A Becauseof this arrangement it is possible for` an operator to .work more thanone press at the-same time.

I have disclosed a particular embodiment of my invention ,merely for thepurpose of illustration and wish it understood that varionsmodifications and adaptations of the device, such as would occur to oneski11ed in the art, may be made, and that I wish to be limited only bythe scope of the following claims as interpreted in view of the priorart.

What'I claim is:

1. In a pressing machine, a valve control mechanism comprising arota-table valve member, an arm attached to said member, a leverpivotallyconnected intermediate4 its ends to said arm, a second leverpivotally connected at one end to a fixed point and at an intermediatepoint engaging one end of the irst mentioned lever, said levers serving,upon movement of their free ends, to rotate said valve member andthereby operate said valve.

2. In a two-hand vcontrol mechanism, an element, a lever mountedadjacent to said element and adapted to move it upon movement of saidlever, a fulcrum for said lever and means for moving said ulcrum intoand out of engagement With said lever, said lever and said means havinghand grips for manual operation.

3. a two-hand control mechanism, a movable element, a lever adapted toenga-ge intermediate its ends with said element, a fulcrum for one endof said lever, and means for moving said fulcrum into and out ofoperative relation Wit-h respect to said lever.

4. In a pressing machine, a controllmg mechanism comprlsmg a movablemember, a

lever pivotally connected intermediate its ends to said member, a secondlever pivotally connected at one end'to a fixed point and at anintermediate point engaging one end of the first mentioned lever, saidlevers serving, upon movement of their free ends, to move said movablemember and thereby actuate said controlling mechanism.

5. In a pressing machine, a controlling I mechanism comprising a movablemember, a

lever pivotally connected at a bearing point to said member, a. secondlever pivotally conl nected at one point to a fixed member and atanother point engaging with the lever first mentioned, ata point remotefrom said bearing point, said levers serving upon movement of their freeends, to 'move said movable member and theeby actuate said controllingmechanism. Y

In testimony whereof, I have signed .my

name to this specification, this 9th day of January 1928.

ERNEST n. ANDERSON.

nes

